


empty space next to me

by saunatonttu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, krtsk69min, prompt: long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 23:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4118208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>to: tetsu<br/><i>you wanna call tonight?</i></p><p> </p><p>from: tetsu<br/><i>yeah, i’d like that, kei</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	empty space next to me

**Author's Note:**

> for krtsk_69min on Twitter  
> prompt: long distance

to: tetsu

_how are things over there?_

 

from: tetsu

_same old, same old. university life. hard. missing you._

 

to: tetsu

_you wanna call tonight?_

 

from: tetsu

_yeah, i’d like that, kei_

 

.

.

.

 

Kei stared at his phone, an absent look on his face as the rest of his teammates finished dressing themselves up after practice, loud chatter in the background not registering in his head until Yamaguchi gave a nudge.

“Tsukki?”

Kei shoved the phone into his pocket harshly, trying to hide it from his friend's view -- but, as always, it was too late, and Yamaguchi started snickering. It was audible even over Kageyama and Hinata’s idiotic argument over an ice cream flavor.

“Kuroo-san, huh?” Yamaguchi sounded way too smug for someone that didn’t have to deal with a long-distance relationship, and that made Kei sigh out loud.

“So?” he deadpanned, even if embarrassment was burning on the peaks of his cheeks and tips of his ears. “You never get like this when it’s Bokuto-san.”

“Neither do you, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi pointed out. “Or is there something I should know?”

“Bye, Yamaguchi,” Kei rolled his eyes as he pulled his bag over his shoulder and took the few steps he needed to get out of the sweaty, stuffy room. “You’re walking home by yourself.”

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi wailed, but he didn’t sound sorry in the least.

Kei shook his head in mild dismay as he evened out his steps for Yamaguchi’s sake, even though his mind was already wandering forward in time to the call, to the time the distance would stop feeling so enormous -- even if only for a moment, an hour or two at best.

Tetsurou’s voice always -- no matter how distorted because of phones and computers -- brought a sense of relief with it.

Why relief of all emotions, Kei didn’t know.

.

.

.

“The moon here looks different, you know,” Tetsurou sighed into Kei’s ear, dramatic and worn-out. “It doesn’t look as yellow, as bright.”

“You have literally lived in Tokyo all of your life, Tetsu.”

Tetsurou’s laughter was tired, but gentle on Kei’s ears. Easy to listen to, unlike the loud guffawing that tended to escape Tetsu’s mouth when Bokuto and he were allowed in close proximity.

“You’re more romantic than to take it literally, Tsukki,” Tetsurou murmured, and Kei’s stomach flipped at the loving, absolutely endeared tone. Unfair. “You know what I mean, don’t you?”

And he did.

After listening to Tetsu’s cheesy moon metaphors whenever they actually met up, it was hard not to make the connections, to deduce what Tetsurou meant.

Kei sighed, his cheeks warm and his hand holding the phone turning sweaty. Gross. “...I do, yeah,” he admitted quietly, lowering his head even though Tetsurou was very far from his room right then. He couldn’t see Kei’s embarrassment -- or his quiet joy, the flush on his face. “For the record, I do not make moon shine brighter with my presence.”

“You do, for me,” Tetsurou said fondly. “So it makes me sad when the moon is dim.”

Kei choked up.

...he thought he was over that, over getting tongue-tied when Tetsu made it known that Kei was loved with an intensity of a sun, with the intensity of a fool in love.

“I love you,” Tetsurou continued, humming when Kei gave no reply, “Kei.”

“Tetsu…” Kei shoulders relaxed when Tetsurouu’s quiet breathing reached his ears. “You make this harder than it needs to be,” he mumbled, biting at his lips and shutting the words _I love you too_ out.

Ugh.

Why did he always do that?

“I know,” Tetsurou sighed, for the umpteenth time, and Kei thought, for one moment, that he could hear longing behind the words, a bleeding feeling that could not be cured by an impromptu visit for a simple hug and kiss.

(Because they could not do impromptu, not really.)

“It’s just,” Tetsurou continued, something rustling as Tetsurou talked, “that I really, really miss you.”

When Tetsurou couldn’t even attempt to be poetic about it, Kei knew it was serious.

“Something happened?”

“Nah. I just… I’m okay.” Tetsurou’s voice turned quiet. “I just need some recharging.”

 _Me too_ , Kei thought, heart twisting as he thought about the approaching finals and the summer camp. “I would come over on Friday, but we have a practice match with Seijou then.” The words _and I’m needed there_ hung behind his mouth, but like the more important three words, they wouldn’t come out.

“I wouldn’t want you to ditch that.” Tetsurou seemed to know what went on his mind, anyway. “I’ll just suck it up til I can Skype again.”

“Mmmm.” Kei smiled, his worries fading with Tetsurou’s quiet reassurances. _I love you_ danced behind his lips again, but…

“Tell me about your week, Tetsu,” he said instead, pulling a dino toy into his lap and pretended that it was Tetsurou. It didn’t quite win against the real deal when it came to hugging.

“Well, there was this one thing at our practice that happened… jeesh, how did Akaashi deal with him, I have no idea…”

The distance between them was physically great, but Kei knew the distance between their hearts was much shorter than the hundreds of kilometers between Miyagi and Tokyo.

Sometimes, that thought gave him the reassurance he needed.

**Author's Note:**

> i shouldn't be allowed to take part in this bc i can't control myself


End file.
